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ACC Game On: 12.08.11 Edition

Posted by KCarpenter on December 8th, 2011

Georgia Tech had the best night out of all the ACC teams, beating a pretty good Georgia team in Athens. The Yellow Jackets, in addition to putting together their usual solid defensive effort, displayed a versatile and balanced offense that saw five different players score in double figures while the team shot 52.1% from the field. If Georgia Tech can put together some more nights like this one, they will easily exceed expectations.

Georgia Tech Won in Athens For the First Time in a Long Time (AP/C. Compton)

Wake Forest and Maryland both nearly took losses but managed to get the win in games that should not have been that close. The Demon Deacons faced the white-hot fury of High Point‘s Nick Barbour who went nova and scored 35 points and hit 7 threes from beyond the arc. Wake Forest also struggled on the boards, allowing High Point to grab twelve offensive rebounds while only securing two of their own. The net result of this rebounding difference helped to create a significant shot disparity where Wake Forest shot the ball only 48 times compared to the High Point’s 63 attempts. That Wake Forest won this game despite these factors is almost impressive. The Demon Deacons were hyper-efficient on offense, shooting 58.3% from the field and making 18 free throws. That this team could turn in such an impressive offensive performance and still come within four points of losing to High Point isn’t a great sign for the future, though. Maryland’s close win had a similar flavor as bad defense nearly undermined a clicking offense. The Terrapins put together a nice evening on offense, including a truly solid game from Nick Faust that included 13 points on five field goals while leading the team with six rebounds, five assists and two blocks. The narrow three-point margin of victory, however, is far from comforting to Terrapin fans.

Virginia Tech and Duke had easy wins. Erick Green continued his excellent season as a mistake-free point guard, tallying 24 points on 14 shots along with three steals and only a single turnover. For the Blue Devils, Mason Plumlee went wild and stuffed the box score with 14 points on seven shots, 10 rebounds, five blocks, four steals and only a single turnover.

The Only Game

Boston College at Providence at 7 PM on ESPN3.com

It’s a dark day when the only ACC game is a Boston College road game. Providence is a talented team that is only going to get better with some incredible incoming recruiting classes. The Friars are definitely a team on the rise. The Eagles are a team on the rise too, if only because there isn’t much room for Boston College to head in the other direction. BC is a work in progress and that’s what makes it interesting. Steve Donahue has the time to tinker with his lineups and try new things, hoping to stumble onto something that works. Granted, he only has this experimental liberty because his team is a long shot in nearly every game left on the schedule, but it means that the Eagles have one of the most potentially interesting narrative arcs in the conference. Donahue has had success in the past and part of me is very curious to see how he handles the challenge of this season. Of course, because of the way his team plays, the other parts of me are too busy cringing to be curious.

One Response to “ACC Game On: 12.08.11 Edition”

Barbour was lighting it up, and we were playing at High Point in what was their biggest game pretty much ever (they fancy themselves to be our little brother, and they honored alum Tubby Smith at the half). My understanding is that of 1800 people in the gym (capacity is 1700), over a 1000 were students. Apparently it was very loud. Wish the defense had been tighter and giving up so many offensive rebounds is kind of embarrassing, but the offense was electric (best eFG% since Skip Prosser’s last game), and we played at 100% throughout.

I was half expecting us to come out flat and lose this thing but we didn’t. I’m happy with the win, regardless of margin.